Anestos Canelides, who posted last month about the fall of Constantinople, returns with a historical analysis of the destruction wrought by the Great Jihad against the Hindus of India.

Why Muslims Loot and Destroy Hindu Temples
by Anestos Canelides

According to Reuters, on July 27th, 2008, Islamic extremists put several Indian cities on high alert, and about forty people became victims in two days of bombings. It was reported that 16 small bombs were exploded in the Indian city of Ahmadabad on Saturday, killing at least 39 people and wounding 110. A day later another set of blasts in Bangalore tragically killed a woman.

A little-known group called the “Indian Mujahideen” claimed responsibility for the bombing, although it is unusual for any group to make such a claim. It is believed it was a militant group from Pakistan that actually carried out the attack. Reuters’ Islamic analysts blamed the violence on the Indian government, due to its neglect of the poverty-stricken Muslim community. According to Uday Bhaskar, a security analyst and former director of New Delhi’s Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, the disenfranchisement of India’s Muslims has forced them to join the global/regional jihad. (www.jihadwatch.org) Is it really because Muslims faced discrimination by the kuffar — the unbelievers of India — or does it go much further back in history? The truth is that if one looks at the historical record, these attacks on the Hindus cannot be justified. Some of the major targets of these bombings have been Hindu Temples, and this has been happening for decades.

In light of these attacks on Hindu Temples by Islamic extremists during the last several decades, it is important to realize that this is not a modern phenomenon. While one cannot say it is not totally separate from issues such as Muslim independence from India in Kashmir, in reality the roots go much deeper in history. The ideology of Islamic supremacism has not changed, and it is this same religious fanaticism that resulted in the Islamic conquests of ancient India, from present day Afghanistan to southern India. To the pious Muslim rule by non- Muslims is still unacceptable, and the modern nation of India is still largely a pagan nation full of idolaters.

The point of this article is not to understand the dhimmis — people of the book — but rather the contrast that the idolaters faced from a historical viewpoint. What is the Islamic ideology behind the attacks on the Hindu people of India and their religion? What are its roots? Why did the Muslims destroy temples and other religious artifacts in India? Is this connected to the modern-day attacks in India?

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

The great historian Will Durant clearly states that the “Mohammedan conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history.”² He wrote these words prior to World War II, but even so, compared with the Muslim conquest of Christian and Jewish lands, the Muslim conquest of India was extremely brutal.

India was and still is largely Hindu, with some pockets of Buddhist and other assorted faiths, but under the teachings of Muhammad they were all idol worshippers. Unlike Christians, Jews and certain other groups, Hindus were not classified as “People of the Book”, and were not given the option to pay a protection tax called the jizya to be able to retain their faith.

People of the Book were given three choices: convert, pay the protection tax, or die. It was after paying this tax they moved from the House of War, Dar al-Harb, to the House of Peace, Dar al-Islam. Groups classified as idolaters were only given two choices: convert or die. Later on the kuffar (unbelievers) in India were given the same status as people of the book, but this only happened after their Muslim masters saw how lucrative it would be to tax these idolaters. Still, the Islamic conquests of India brought onto the Indians centuries of cruelty, even after they were granted dhimmi status.

The beginning
– – – – – – – – –
The first Muslim attack began with a raid on Multan, in the western Punjab region of India, and similar raids continued at the convenience of the invaders for the next three centuries. Eventually this led not only to conquest, but also to the establishment of Islam in the Indus Valley contemporaneously with the battles fought by its co-religionists against the Franks at the Battle of Tours in 731 AD. However, the real conquest of Hindu/Buddhist lands did not come fully into fruition until the turn of first millennium after Christ.

In any case, military contact by the “peaceful” armies of Islam in pagan India resulted in conversion, destruction of property such as temples, outright slaughter, enslavement, and pillaging. These brutal attacks continued for the next 500 years, bringing war upon the kuffar from Afghanistan to southern India. The invasions caused the destruction of many temples throughout the lands of India, and in some cases eliminated Hindu and Buddhist culture from certain regions forever. Other groups such as the Jains faced the same threat from Islam.¹

Arab conquests: the beginning

It was after the complete conquest of Persia under the Sassanid Dynasty in 637 AD that the boundaries of the Caliphate touched the frontiers of India, known as Hind va Sind by the Arabs. It was natural that India could not escape the attention of the Islamic expansionists, whose eyes were ever-hungry for converts, conquest, loot, and slaves.

The raids started in the territories of Sind by land and sea. At first the progress of invading Arab armies was slow, and they faced numerous defeats due to stiff resistance. “For the declaration of objectives of Muslim invaders had not taken into account the potentialities of India’s stiff and latent resistance.”¹

Subsequent invasions were repulsed, and the Arabs enjoyed little success until they began to invade from the northwest, emboldened by the earlier annex of Khurasan in 643 AD. The first Arab army penetrated into Zabul, or present day Afghanistan, which at that time was part of India territorially as well as culturally. The Arabs were driven out of Zabul, but later reconquered the territory under Arab General Abdul Rahman, forcing Kabul to pay tribute to the Muslim conquerors.¹

The attempts to conquer southern India continued by land and sea, but the first subjugation of India proper began in 712 AD with a full-fledged invasion. The main purpose of the invasion of India was the spread of Islam into the region. The Qur’an clearly says, “fight against them (the Mushriks) until idolatry is no more and Allah’s religion reins supreme” The one thing these Muslims knew about the inhabitants of India was they were idol-worshippers and infidels, which led to only one conclusion: conquest. This is repeated in Sura 69 “Lay hold of him and bind him. Burn him in the fire of Hell,” and again “When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield strike off their heads and when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly.”

The invading Muslims knew about their duty concerning such idol worshippers with the instructions coming from three sources: the Qur’an, the Hadith, and the personal exploits of Muhammad himself. The supreme Qur’an taught them to fight the kuffar or unbeliever with all their strength until they were subdued. It was their pious duty to convert them and destroy their idols, shrines and temples.

“The Jihad or Holy War is a multi-dimensional concept. It means fighting for the sake of Allah, for the cause of Islam, for converting people to the true faith.”¹ The central theme in Islam is iconoclasm and razing pagan temples, often to replace them with mosques. It is justified by Quranic revelation, and the examples are written in the Sunnah of Muhammad, who destroyed Arab temples, thus, setting an example for his followers. This example was carried into India, or anywhere else they came in contact with Kuffar. Without jihad there would be no Islam, and jihad is the duty of every true Muslim alive, from the time of the Prophet Muhammad until today.¹

History does testify to the destruction caused by incursion of the religion of peace into India, which started with the Arabs.¹

The Arab Jihad on Indian culture

A clear example of the destruction of the Hindu/Buddhist culture and their temples can be seen in the siege of Debal by Muhammad bin Qasim; who marched into India with a large military expedition. His forces were supplied by Muhammad Harun, the governor of Makran, with weapons of siege warfare such as five catapults. Debal was located on the coast, and was so called because of its Deval or temple. Qasim arrived at the city walls in late 711 or early 712 AD with about 20,000 foot soldiers and cavalry. The Muslims gave the initial invitation to convert, and many in the lower rung of society known as the Jats and Meds, who were thoroughly uneducated, accepted this invitation and flocked to the standard of Islam. Their main motivation was the hope of more material gain and the desire to escape from the Hindu caste system.

Much of the population in India — such as the Buddhists, who were totally averse to fighting — was passive; their faith taught them to avoid bloodshed. Many people were indifferent to invasion, but some resisted. K.S Lal states, “In such a situation it were only Raja Dahir of Sind, his Kshatriya soldiers and Brahman Priests of the Temple who were called upon to defend their cities and shrines, citadels and country. This is based upon a Muslim source and should be accepted with caution.”¹

In the latter part of the siege of Debal, defectors informed Muhammad about how the temple could be captured. Following their information, the Arabs planted their ladders on the walls of the citadel and stormed over them. Once they took Debal the citizens were given the invitation to accept Islam and upon refusal the males were slaughtered and the women and children were taken into slavery. The carnage lasted for three days: looting, plundering, and rape. Their temple was razed, and was replaced by a mosque. Muhammad left a garrison of 4,000 soldiers in the town. The spoils of conquest were divided first among the leadership and then the common soldiers, and this would be repeated again and again with continued Islamic conquests. “As this was the pattern of all future sieges of Muhammad bin Qasim — as indeed of all future Muslim invaders of Hindustan — it may be repeated. Inhabitants of a captured fort or town were invited to accept Islam or face death.”¹ India would face three major invasions over the centuries, beginning with the Arabs and continuing with the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century AD. Over and over again the same scenario repeated itself, with those who converted being spared and those who did not accept the religion of peace being massacred or enslaved. In every case their temples were destroyed, along with all the idols within them, and the remains of the temple were used to build a mosque on the former temple site.¹ Later Turkish invasions would even be more brutal.

Example: Jihad by the Turks on the Indian culture

The Turkic Seljuk tribes who had converted to Islam were no less destructive to India’s largely Hindu and Buddhist population. Like the Arabs, the Turks gave the same invitation to convert or die.

In the year 997 AD a Turkish chieftain by the name of Mahmud in eastern Afghanistan cast an envious eye at the wealth across the Indian frontier, because his throne was new and his kingdom was poor. Mahmud knew the kuffar in India were extremely wealthy and he wanted their riches for himself. Using a zeal against idolatry as a pretext for war, he swept across their frontiers with a force inspired by a pious lust for booty. He slaughtered the unprepared Hindus at Bhimnagar, pillaged their cities, and destroyed their temples, carrying away the accumulated treasures of centuries. He returned to his capital in Afghanistan with so much loot that he astonished foreign ambassadors by displaying “jewels and unbored pearls and rubies shining like sparks or like wine congealed with ice, and emeralds like fresh sprigs of myrtle and diamonds in size and weight like pomegranates.”² Each winter he returned and invaded India to fill his treasure chests and allow his men to pillage and kill, only to return to his capital richer than before.²

At the town of Mathura, Mahmud looted from the temple gold statues encrusted with precious stones and emptied its coffers of gold, silver and jewels. At the same time he expressed an admiration for the architecture of the city’s great shrine, and he judged that its duplication would cost him about one hundred million dinars and the labor of 200 years. He then ordered it soaked with naphtha and burnt to the ground. Six years later he sacked a city in Northern India called Somnath, and murdered all 50,000 of its inhabitants, although at other times he spared the population to be taken to his capital as slaves.²

The whole scenario in this conflict between India and the Muslim world would continue even after India became independent from Great Britain. The separation of India into Pakistan only confirms the hostility by some Muslim groups against their kuffar neighbors.

It is still clear that the main objective of radical Muslims in destroying Hindu temples was laid out by the examples of their Prophet Muhammad. For pious Muslim these temples are not only full of idols or false gods, but are an affront to the Unity of God — after all, there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.

Islam is not only a religion but it is a political system which does not tolerate rule by the infidel kuffar, let alone Hindu idolaters. Until the day comes when Islam is reformed, as Christianity has been, there will be no peace between radical Muslims and the non-Muslim population of India. The bombing of Hindu temples and other property will likely continue even if Kashmir gains independence from India.

Radical Islam only respects strength and courage. This fact is supported by Spero Vyronis in Medieval Historiography. In his book he states that during the First Crusade the only virtue that Arabs respected the Franks (French) for was their courage. This can be no less true for the government of India and, yes, the USA as well.

If we do not learn from history then we will never be able to deal with the Islamic threat. Respect will only come from the Muslim world by carrying a bigger stick.

Anestos Canelides has a master’s degree in history from Eastern Washington University, and lives in Arizona.

Sources:

1.		K.S. Lal, The Legacy of Jihad: Muslims Invade India, Prometheus Books
2.		Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage, Simon and Schuster. New York, 1954

The noted blogger Fjordman is filing this report via Gates of Vienna.
For a complete Fjordman blogography, see The Fjordman Files. There is also a multi-index listing here.

Thomas Friedman of The New York Times believes that the reason for Turkey’s Islamic radicalization is that the country hasn’t yet gained full access to the European Union. In other words, he blames Europeans for not allowing another 70 million plus Muslims free access to their countries.

Mr. Friedman is widely cited as an “expert on the Middle East,” despite the fact that most of the pronouncements he has made about that region over the past decade have been demonstrably false.

As late as in 2005, Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf topped the bestseller list in Turkey, second only to a book about a Turkish national hero detonating a nuclear bomb in Washington D.C, the capital city of its NATO “ally,” the USA. Yet Mr. Friedman, an American Jew, is not at all concerned about this. His main worry is that Europeans are being mean by not committing cultural suicide fast enough.

Letter from Istanbul:
– – – – – – – – –

A series of vacuums that emerged in and around Turkey in the last few years have drawn Turkey’s Islamist government — led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party — away from its balance point between East and West. This could have enormous implications. Turkey’s balancing role has been one of the most important, quiet, stabilizers in world politics. You only notice it when it is gone. Being in Istanbul convinces me that we could be on our way to losing it if all these vacuums get filled in the wrong ways.

The first vacuum comes courtesy of the European Union. After a decade of telling the Turks that if they wanted E.U. membership they had to reform their laws, economy, minority rights and civilian-military relations — which the Erdogan government systematically did — the E.U. leadership has now said to Turkey: “Oh, you mean nobody told you? We’re a Christian club. No Muslims allowed.” The E.U.’s rejection of Turkey, a hugely bad move, has been a key factor prompting Turkey to move closer to Iran and the Arab world.

Here’s a promotional video for this year’s Khalifa Conference featuring Australian members of Hizb ut-Tahrir:

As you can see, this is an explicit rejection of any “moderate” version of Islam. Islam accepts no moderation — no doctrine that arises outside the Koran and the Sunna is permitted.

Hat tip: Bolta, via Anne-Kit.

[Post ends here]

The imam of a mosque in Tampa has pleaded guilty to molesting a 13-year old boy who stayed overnight at the mosque. The guilty plea spared him jail time, but he will be deported to his native Egypt.

In other news, the Swiss have paid more than a million dollars to secure the release of a businessman who was held hostage by the Libyan government for almost two years. Meanwhile, the economic crisis in Spain continues to worsen, and some analysts believe that Spain will be the next eurozone country after Greece to require an IMF bailout.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, DS, heroyalwhyness, Holger Danske, Insubria, JD, JP, KGS, Zenster, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

[This post is a stub — nothing further here!]

Needless to say, neither the Muslims nor the Left are pleased with Geert Wilders’ recent electoral victory, and they aren’t afraid to show it. Our Flemish correspondent VH has translated several brief pieces on the topic, and includes the accompanying images:

First, a Socialist response to the PVV victory from parool.nl:

Amsterdam skate shop bars PVV voters

The skate shop “Toms Outlet” in Amsterdam does not want to have any customers inside who voted for the party of Geert Wilders. On the shop window it reads: “PVV Voters Not Welcome”. A shop employee, Tim Pen, confirmed this in a response to a report by the local broadcaster, AT5.

Tim Pen said he finds the gains by Wilders’ party to be ‘‘disgusting’’. He wrote the text on the shop window because he ‘‘seriously disagrees with the ideas of the PVV’’ […] ‘‘I suspect 70 percent of the people who voted for him would otherwise not have voted, because they have no idea of what is going on in the world.’’

He will not, however, check the customers on their voting behavior when they enter the shop. ‘‘It’s more a symbolic kind of text.” […] “Those who do not agree with it will be invited to have a talk about it”.

The Amsterdam photographer Thomas Schlijper took a picture of the shop window, which was also published at GeenStijl.nl: “Where have we actually seen this before?”

On May 20, before the elections, Izz Ad-Din Ruhulessin, a Muslim columnist for the [left-wing] newspaper De Volkskrant, wrote (translated excerpt):

– – – – – – – – –

It is up to the Dutch people: Do not recognize a government with Wilders, not in word nor deed. Say: “I do not recognize this government as legitimate representative of the people.” Strike. Demonstrate. Barricade. Occupy. Do not collaborate. A political crisis will result. But that’s just the price to be paid, if one really wants to take a stand for the Muslims. […] The Muslims will at least have clarity about their position in the Netherlands. Once and for all know we will who our friends are and who our enemies are. Those who accept the legitimacy of a government that includes the Party for Freedom are our enemies. The upcoming formation [of a coalition government] will be a historical one. […] Wilders and the Party for Freedom cannot and must not be tolerated under the guise of “he is just democratically elected” and other fallacies. Being democratically elected does not automatically mean they are legitimate or morally just. Even democratically elected governments can act outside the democratic ethic. Nip the PVV in the bud while you can, because prevention is better than a cure. Thinking that the horrors of history cannot repeat themselves in a “civilized country” such as the Netherlands is dangerous, naïve, and foolish.

On June 2 [excerpt], from De Volkskrant:

If we really want to accomplish anything in this discussion, than the traditional concepts should be resolutely rejected. Nearly nine million natives must be re-educated; and learn that they are not in the position to demand, or expect, of other ethnic groups, but to adapt to them.“

And on election day he used his voting right to invalidate his ballot paper by scribbling in Arabic on it:

And also by drawing a middle finger on it:

As reported in last night’s news feed, over the weekend the French flag at the town hall in the city of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges was burned and replaced with an Algerian one. Vlad Tepes managed to find a news video about the story, and has subtitled it in English:

The original news article is below:
– – – – – – – – –

An Algerian Flag on a French Town Hall

The French flag hanging on the front of the town hall of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges (Val de Marne) was burnt in the night from Sunday to Monday and replaced by an Algerian flag, police said.

The facts were discovered Monday morning at the opening of the hall. The council said he had immediately lodged a complaint. On Sunday, Slovenia has defeated Algeria in the World Cup football match (1-0) in his first match in Group C.

In early June, Justice Minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, seized the State Council of a draft decree punishing a fine of 1500 euros the contempt of the French flag. The draft decree provides for a contravention of the fifth degree, punishable by a fine of 1500 euros, which will punish on the one hand the fact of degrading or indecent use of the tricolor flag in a public place or open to the public, and, secondly, to disseminate by any means the representation of these facts’ stated Arthur Dreyfuss, deputy spokesman of the Ministry of Justice. ‘The element of intent will be included in the decree in question’ to be taken into account in the sanction, he added.

In last night’s post about the Counterjihad Zurich meeting, I referred to the dramatic changes that have taken place in Europe since I first started attending Counterjihad meetings and conferences. In the comments, Costin asked for details: “It would be very interesting to tell us a little more. How did you think 3 years ago things would look like now, and why do they look much worse than you expected?”

The changes I was referring to are actually for the better, and not for the worse. By the time I finished summarizing some of them for Costin, the text was too long for a single comment, and had to be broken up into two sections.

The post below has been adapted from those comments, and may serve as a overview of some of the more important changes that have occurred in the brief time since I started paying close attention events in Europe.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Three years ago I was just getting started in this transatlantic gig, so it may be that things haven’t changed all that much, really, but rather the amount of data available to me has changed.

It’s hard to tell, because I’ve had to absorb so much new information about Europe since then. All the political parties, the politicians, the legal structures in different countries, the opinions expressed in the media — enormous quantities of material to take in.

In 2007 it seemed that only the Danes were truly alert to the necessity for pushback against Islam. No other country came close to Denmark.

However, there have been major encouraging developments in the meantime. I’ll just list a few off the top of my head:

1. Geert Wilders and the PVV Geert Wilders’ name was in the news back then, but the PVV was not the potent political force that it is today. After the recent election which catapulted it into a strong third place, the PVV can wield real, effective power against the further Islamization of the Netherlands. This is the most important political development in the West since 9/11. 2. The emergence of the English Defence League Three years ago Britain seemed more hopelessly mired in political correctness and dhimmitude than any other Western nation, and the British public was supine in the face of the officially-sanctioned genocide being waged against them. Even a year and a half ago, there was no sign of a popular pushback. Now the EDL is a formidable political force, and its organization has been entirely at the grassroots level. It’s a staggering development. 3. Sverigedemokraterna Three years ago the Sweden Democrats were completely marginal in Swedish politics, and were seen as Nazis by the establishment. That last part is still true, but the average Swedish voter seems to have seen through the media lies, because SD is almost certain to pass the 4% threshold and enter parliament in September. This, like the emergence of the EDL, is an amazing breakthrough in a country that seemed utterly lost to dhimmitude. 4. The Lega Nord The strength of the Northern League in Italy continues to grow, and Berlusconi’s ruling coalition is considerably more dependent on the Lega than it was three years ago. 5. The SVP The Swiss People’s Party has moved from a barely noticeable fringe group to one of the largest parties in Switzerland, and the minaret ban is just the most visible evidence that Swiss public opinion has bypassed the MSM to learn about what the SVP really stands for. 6. Pro-Köln

– – – – – – – – –

Germany has the hardest job of all when it comes to resisting Islam, because whenever someone tries to take action, the media all over the world shriek about “the danger of a Nazi revival” or something similar. Yet, despite all this, a true Counterjihad movement has formed at the grassroots level in Cologne and North Rhine-Westphalia. 7. Fremskrittspartiet The anti-immigration Progress Party in Norway has emerged as a real player and has gained considerable public support. In the most recent elections, the decline of the traditional right and the strength of the communists prevented Fremskrittspartiet from gaining decisive influence, but it will definitely be a player in the future. 8. Perussuomalaiset The growth of the True Finns continues, despite official and unofficial repression. The trial of Jussi Halla-aho has brought home to many Finns the totalitarian nature of the Multicultural establishment, which seems determined to make Finland just like Sweden, the Netherlands, and Britain. 9. The emergence of a popular French resistance France is still lagging behind the Netherlands, but a real resistance has emerged in the last two years. The Front National is no longer the only right-wing game in town: the Bloc Identitaire has been formed to assert a traditional French identity and resist Islamization. 10. The burqa bans The various burqa bans — France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark come to mind — were inconceivable three years ago. Under the universal Multicultural regime, politicians dared not touch the issue, but the political winds have shifted in the meantime.

Those are just the first ten encouraging signs that I could think of. I’m sure that more can be added.

Vlad Tepes interviews Sam Solomon about the role of the mosque in Islam, and how it functions as a center for jihad against non-Muslim societies:

A quote from the interview:
– – – – – – – – –
Islam is not simply a religion. Islam is a socio-political system. It is a socio-political, socio-religious, socio-economic, socio-educational, socio-judicial, legislative, militaristic system cloaked in, garbed in religious terminology. And therefore Islam is not like any other religion…

[…]

Islam is a system. And wherever there is a Muslim community there will be a sharia. And wherever there is a sharia there is an Islamification of the territory and ultimately of that nation.

A French flag that hung on the town hall in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges was burned over the weekend and replaced with an Algerian flag. It is not yet known whether the crime was in any way connected with the defeat of Algeria by Slovenia in Sunday’s World Cup match.

In other news, a pro-Palestinian organization in Turkey says it will launch another six-ship “aid” flotilla next month to try to break the Gaza blockade. Meanwhile, an opinion poll has discovered that two out of three Tunisians are absolutely indifferent to environmental problems, and have no intention of taking any action to alleviate them.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to Apollon Zamp, Barry Rubin, C. Cantoni, Gaia, Holger Danske, Insubria, JP, Lurker from Tulsa, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

[This post is a stub — nothing further here!]

Tell me again about Europe and her pains,
Who’s tortured by the drought, who by the rains.
Glut me with floods where only the swine can row
Who cuts his throat and let him count his gains.
It seemed the best thing to be up and go.

               — William Empson, from “Aubade”

This year’s meeting of European Counterjihad activists convened last Saturday morning in a suburb of Zurich. As is my habit, I arrived a couple of days early to allow time to recover from jet lag and see the local sights before beginning work in earnest. On Friday morning, under the expert guidance of a local Swiss participant, I took a tour of Zurich along with several other people who arrived early for the meeting.

The city of Zurich lies in the German-speaking area of Switzerland at the north end of a long lake called Zürichsee, where it is joined by the Limmat River. The site has been settled since approximately 5000 BC, and the present city was founded more than two thousand years ago by the Romans, who named it Turicum.

We walked from the main railway station to the lake, and then up the Limmat to the Grossmünster, the Great Cathedral of Zurich.

The south tower of the cathedral was open to visitors, and the more adventurous members of our group made the long climb up a spiral staircase to the viewing area at the top, where we were afforded a spectacular view of the city in all directions. This is the skyline to the northwest:

We spent the rest of the afternoon prowling the narrow streets of the Old Town, stopping occasionally to refresh ourselves with food and adult beverages in the outdoor seating areas of several cafes.

While walking around Zurich and its suburbs, I noticed that cultural enrichment has crept into the districts outside the main tourist zones. The kebab joints and pizza restaurants are often run by Turks, and crowds of men sitting in front of them glared at us as we walked by. Hijabs were in evidence on the street — and, as I reported yesterday, could also be seen on the heads of security personnel at the airport.

By and large, however, Zurich seemed to be only lightly enriched, compared to Vienna or, even worse, London. Unlike Copenhagen — where every pizza joint is owned by Arabs — there are Italian pizza restaurants in the city and its suburbs that are run by actual Italians.

The Swiss are fortunate to have taken action and passed the minaret ban while the country is still in the early stages of Islamization. With the growing influence of the Swiss People’s Party, Switzerland may yet avoid the dire situation that prevails in most other Western European countries.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

On Saturday morning we got down to business. I already knew many of the participants, but our location made it easy for French and German contingents to participate, so I was able to make the acquaintance of a number of people I had previously met only through skype or email.

Delegates to the meeting included:

Austria		Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff
Denmark		Hans Erling Jensen
		Kepiblanc
		Rolf Krake
France		Cyber-Résistant
		Gandalf
		Radu
		sementic 77
Germany		Conny Meier
		Liz
		nockerl
		Rabea
Switzerland		Christian
		Kitman
UK		Gaia
		Aeneas

In addition to the people listed above, there were attendees from Norway and Sweden, and representatives from the SVP, the EDL, and Lega Nord were also present. Belgium and the Netherlands were in the midst of major elections, and unfortunately sent no delegates to the meeting.

Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff is already known to our regular readers, and you may also recall Hans Erling Jensen, the wily Dane who is counter-suing the heirs of Mohammed for insulting infidels. It was a pleasure to finally meet Gandalf of VV&D, as well as a number of other French Counterjihad activists whom I had previously known only by email or skype. Kitman, the video whiz who works regularly with Vlad Tepes, was on hand to talk about media. Two major German-language news sites, Politically Incorrect and Europe News, sent several representatives to weigh in on alternative media.

I’ll be covering the individual sessions in some detail in later posts, but a brief overview is in order. Like the meetings in Vienna and Copenhagen, the sessions were mostly in workshop format, with moderated general discussion in a roundtable format. Emphasis was placed on the fact that in the repression of the current politically correct regime, what we do makes us dissidents. A nascent totalitarianism — in which state control on both sides of the Atlantic is exerted through government social and financial benefits — will gradually force us into a kind of samizdat.

With these repressive conditions in mind, several of the sessions focused on working around the MSM to spread the truth about the dangers of Islamization. For now, until our countries bring to bear the kind of controls on the internet that exist in China, the new media are our best hope. YouTube and other online video services are particularly important in the viral spread of dissident information.

Aeneas gave a presentation on the English Defence League, which has mounted the most successful grassroots anti-jihad operation yet seen in the West. The EDL utilizes alternative media to get around the wall of negative MSM coverage, and organizes its membership for collective action using a variety communications strategies — online forums, Facebook, email, SMS, etc. The EDL’s methods are so successful that the group can almost instantaneously raise a local gathering of members in response to breaking events. In this they have taken a page from their Muslim adversaries, who are notorious for their generation of flash mobs.

Gandalf of VV&D led a workshop on the Alliance to Stop Sharia. The French constitution is based on laïcité, which is the principle of absolute secularism in government. Under laïcité, Islam cannot be officially attacked, since religion falls outside of governmental purview. However, because sharia is a legal system, it is a valid object of constitutional scrutiny. Moreover, it can be easily shown to violate the French constitution.

The Stop Sharia initiative thus focuses entirely on Sharia, and never mentions Islam. By avoiding religion and focusing on the law, we can see that Sharia demonstrably violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, the English Bill of Rights, the American Bill of Rights, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man. If we sidestep the question of religion, Islam becomes quite vulnerable to a concerted attack on its illiberal legal tenets — which are an absolute mandate of its scripture.

On Sunday afternoon a member of parliament for the Swiss People’s Party (Schweizerische Volkspartei or SVP, a.k.a. Union Démocratique du Centre or UDC, Unione Democratica di Centro or UDC, and Partida Populara Svizra or PPS) addressed the meeting. He led a discussion about his party’s successful referendum campaign that imposed a ban on the building of new minarets. He urged delegates from other countries to follow the Swiss example and employ direct democracy in their fight against Islamization. The Swiss constitution permits citizens to force a nationwide referendum after obtaining a threshold number of petition signatures, but not all European countries allow such initiatives. Switzerland, however, is not the only country with such a provision, and the EU itself provides for citizens’ referenda.

Other topics covered in the weekend’s sessions included parliamentary legislation, freedom of speech, fundraising, the OSCE, and the growing threat of Turkey.

As is usual in these meetings, some of the most interesting and lively conversations occurred at lunch or in the evening, as delegates shared ideas and compared notes over food and drink. I learned from the French delegation that official French government propaganda is failing massively, that people are not fooled, and that they no longer believe the official lies. There is a sense that the country is nearing the tipping point, and is on the verge of a fundamental shift in public opinion.

The same theme was expressed by delegates from other countries. All across Europe official propaganda is losing its effectiveness, which is why the news media are becoming more blatantly biased. Denunciations of politically incorrect parties and politicians are increasingly shrill, with Geert Wilders and his PVV being referred to as “rats” by German media outlets after the PVV’s recent electoral success. The demonization of the EDL by the BBC and other British media is ratcheting up, but it is no longer working. Even Sweden is experiencing a growing public awareness of the nature of the Islamic problem.

Underlying all of this is the financial crisis, which may be the proximate trigger for the coming changes. This is the unpredictable factor — if the euro and the banking system can hold out for a few years longer, the demographic advantage enjoyed by Islam can only increase, and make the reckoning that much more ugly when it finally arrives.

In any case, events in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Britain show that change is already beginning. Since I first started attending these meetings three years ago, more change has occurred than I would ever have believed possible. Given the current potential for cataclysmic events — an Iranian nuke, for example, or the collapse of a major currency — predicting what will happen in the next five years is all but impossible.

But as to risings, I can tell you why.
It is on contradiction that they grow.
It seemed the best thing to be up and go.
Up was the heartening and the strong reply.
The heart of standing is we cannot fly.

Once again, I’d like to thank all the people whose kind donations allowed me to travel to Zurich for this year’s meeting. You all know who you are, and you have earned my deepest gratitude.

Update: A misspelled name in the above text has been corrected.

A number of Afghans who converted to Christianity have been convicted and sentenced to death. Remember: this is what American, Canadian, Danish, Italian, and Swedish soldiers fought and died for in Afghanistan. They gave their lives so that Afghans might live under a Sharia-based constitution and put Christian converts to death.

Just in case you were wondering.

In other news, the Conservative Party in Britain has indicated that it favors Islamic finance.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to Barry Rubin, C. Cantoni, CSP, Fjordman, Gaia, Insubria, KGS, Reinhard, Srdja Trifkovic, Steen, TB, TV, Vlad Tepes, Zenster, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

[This post is a stub — nothing further here!]

I returned very early this morning from Switzerland, where over the weekend it was my privilege to attend Counterjihad Zurich 2010, the latest in a series of summits of European anti-Islamization activists. I’ve spent all day today trying to catch up with the hundreds of emails that came while I was gone, with only partial success. It will take me a couple of days to get back on track.

The Zurich meeting was a great success, and I’ll be writing more about it later on, after I compile my materials. Many thanks to the benefactors whose donations made my trip possible — you all know who you are.

But right now I’d like to digress for a moment about airport security.

I flew out of Dulles last Wednesday, and the security process there was pure living hell. First there was an endless line just to get to the checkpoint where the TSA guy looks at your passport and boarding pass. Then there was another line — this one snaking back and forth through what seemed like miles of elastic tape barriers — that eventually divided up into several streams to go through the X-ray machines and the metal detectors. Shoes off, coat off, laptop out, liquids into the little bag, go through the Mystical Arch of Examination — and if you’re lucky, they don’t select you for some of that Extra Scrutiny.

After that, if you have time, you can get sozzled in the bar at eight bucks a beer while you’re waiting to board.

Coming home yesterday I had to repeat the same procedure in Zurich, although it was less strenuous there. Unfortunately, however, I had to change planes in Philadelphia (a five-hour layover), and Philly is a point-of-entry. That meant I had to go through passport control (an endless line), and then reclaim my luggage. Next came customs (an endless line), and then I had to re-check my suitcase. And then — here’s the killer — I had to go through security again. A long line down a winding corridor to the checkpoint with the grumpy TSA guy, then the inevitable snake back and forth to the X-ray machines. Shoes off, etc., etc. Once more with feeling.

OK, you all know the drill; this was just business as usual.

But — and here’s the kicker — everywhere I went there were Muslims working the security. Muslimas in hijab checking boarding passes. Muslims at the X-ray machines. Muslims wanding people. And in Philly I saw a Muslim guy doing the security screening on an entire family of Muslim travelers — women and girls in hijab, Dad in his little beanie, kids straggling along.

And I’ve got to tell you: it bothered me.

We are less safe after all this folderol because we’re letting people who could well be our enemies screen people who could well be our enemies. Which, needless to say, is insane.

I’d be willing to put up with all this — even the Muslims wanding Muslims — if, everywhere those endless lines snake back and forth, signs were posted that read:
– – – – – – – – –

NOTICE TO ALL PASSENGERS Washington Dulles International Airport apologizes for any inconvenience caused by our rigorous security screening procedures. We are anxious to emphasize that we instituted all these extra precautions because Muslim terrorists frequently try to blow up airplanes. There is no other reason why we subject our customers to these indignities. IF IT WEREN’T FOR MUSLIM TERRORISTS, NONE OF THIS HUMILIATING RIGMAROLE WOULD BE NECESSARY.

Now that would be truth in advertising.

The argument that liberals often put forth when confronted with the above goes something like this: “But what about Timothy McVeigh? And what about the Christians who shoot abortion doctors? They’re terrorists, too!”

Yes, they are. But I’ve got some news for the Moral Equivalence Crowd: Timothy McVeigh had no effect whatsoever on airport security. Not one airport revised its screening procedures because some wacko offed an abortion doctor.

Muslim terrorists, and nothing else, created the current airport nightmare. Especially Mohammed Atta and the Gang of Nineteen: they created the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA. They made us stand in endless lines and say “yessir” to all those grumpy uniformed guys at the screening desks.

We take off our shoes and strip to our skivvies because Muslims like to blow up airplanes.

There’s no other reason, and we need to remember that.

Is the tide turning or is this just a little wave?

A University of California, Irvine, disciplinary committee ruled that a Muslim student group should be suspended for at least a year because of a protest that disrupted a talk by Israel’s ambassador and led to the arrest of 11 students, according to documents released Monday.

The letter from a student affairs disciplinary committee to Muslim Student Union leaders said the group was guilty of disorderly conduct, obstructing university activities, furnishing false information and other violations of campus policy.

University spokeswoman Cathy Lawhon said the committee’s decision will be a binding recommendation to the campus’ office of student affairs if a planned appeal by the group does not succeed.

The students aren’t happy:
– – – – – – – – –

MSU attorney Reem Salahi said the committee relied on evidence relied that was “inadequate and problematic” but declined to outline the group’s challenge in detail. She said the decision, if sustained, would leave Muslim students without an organization representing their interests.

“It really does have very lasting constitutional implications,” she said. “It’s a chilling effect for Muslims on campus and their right to associate.”

They’ve needed to chill out for a real long time. It’s about time someone put ice down their backs.

Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren was repeatedly interrupted and called “murderer” and “war criminal” by pro-Palestinian students as he was giving a talk on the Middle East peace process in February.

Eleven students were cited on charges of disrupting a public event after they were requested to refrain from heckling but did not.

[…]

The MSU condemned the ambassador’s appearance but insisted it did not organize the protests.

Uh huh. Sure. Y’all were all at the library, studying.

The disciplinary committee, however, said a review of online message group conversations and minutes from an MSU meeting revealed that the group did engineer the protests and instructed participants to lie about its involvement.

The group’s preparations allegedly included scripting statements for protesters to make during the event and instructing participants to cheer at disruptions.

“Be VERY LOUD, firm and strong … but remain composed and under control. Do not let your emotions get the best of you. Remember that this is a planned/calculated response and not a venting session,” the committee quoted organizers as telling participants in meeting minutes.

So these idjits kept notes? You know why? Because they’ve been given free rein for so long they no longer believed they were touchable. I don’t blame them at all. They’re used to acting like this and getting away with it.

Well good on the grown-ups!

The committee also ruled that the group should be put on disciplinary probation for a year following its suspension, which ends in August 2011, and that members collectively complete 50 hours of community service.

Maybe they could clean out Christian churches or something usefully haram? Har har.

Hat tip Israpundit

Here are a few of those moments captured on video, just in case you yourself happen upon your own “interesting times”. Watch this so you’ll recognize them when they occur:

The guy is obviously stressed. He has also committed bodily assault. I hope they bring him up on charges. Or at least file a civil suit. I hope the young man took a time-stamped picture of his own wrist later.

Ah, but The Honorable Mr. Etheridge is apologizing real fast:

Etheridge told reporters that he hasn’t apologized to the young men involved because “I don’t know who they are.”

“I would if I knew who they were,” he said.

Lame. Lamer. Lamest. He’s just mad because his intimidation tactics didn’t work. This non-apology demonstrates clearly that the man is outta touch and still angry that his bullying didn’t get him what he demanded.

“I’ve been spat at, pushed and threatened before but that’s no excuse,” he added, saying that the incident occurred after a “long day.”

You have at least that much right: it’s not an excuse. Those experiences are a professional hazard of politics, sir. If you can’t stand the heat, take off your apron, give up all your perks and get on out of the kitchen. Awww, someone pushed you…poor baby.
– – – – – – – – –

In a statement Monday, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Jon Thompson said, “Bob Etheridge has lost it.

“His conduct is unbecoming of a member of Congress. It’s bad enough that he’s joined Obama’s assault on North Carolina jobs, but his physical assault on a college student goes beyond the pale.”

Quick little jab in there. A one-two for him and the president he rode in on?

Fox goes on to mention Mike Flynn’s analysis at Big Government, but doesn’t link to him so I will:

Maybe it is my Catholic upbringing, but I’ve always been cursed with a bit too much empathy. It is often difficult to witness people bearing the full weight of the consequences of their decisions, even when it is richly deserved. (And, in the case of House Democrats few have ever been more deserving of reaping everything they’ve sown.) We’re human, after all, and witnessing people on the cusp of realizing that they’ve lost everything can be difficult.

Expect more of this. The hard, progressive left captured the Democrat majority in Congress and forced them to enact a fantasy grab-bag of legislation that is increasingly unpopular with the American public. We’re on the cusp of a deeper recession, millions of unemployed Americans have no prospect for work, taxes are about to spike higher and we’ve maxed out the national credit card. The Democrats were given a chance to run government and they’ve only succeeded in running it into the ground.

So, yeah, Democrats who are up for reelection this November are a bit testy.

Now Fox doesn’t think the Honorable Mr. Etheridge is in any political trouble back in his District, but they’re wrong.

Even if he has been in office since 1997, and even if he is a powerful member of the House Ways and Means Committee, his District is rated R+2, i.e., a Republican kind of place. And these are interesting times; incumbency won’t be an advantage in November.

Just think of it: his opponent doesn’t need to pay for expensive campaign ads. All she has to do is clip this video into small segments and run them ad nauseam with a caption like, oh maybe, “Do you Really Want to Re-Elect a Bully?” A voice over (manly, firm and indignant) says “Etheridge doesn’t deserve our vote”. I tell you, the possibilities are limitless.

No, Fox gets it wrong on this one. There’s a long, hot summer ahead, with lots of volunteers willing to rake this unstable person over the coals. A little judicious shoving, a bit of name-calling – he’s going to be fair game for anyone who happens across his path.

What political hay there is to be made here! Personally, I think he needs an IQ test followed by Congresso-Rehab. Some psychiatrist could develop a treatment plan for members of the political class who go berserk or become exceedingly thin-skinned and testy. Yeah, Barry O needs help, as does anyone who demands of another “Don’t you know who I am?”

At The Carolina Journal, they’re scratching their heads over this one:

On Monday, when news began circulating throughout North Carolina political circles about the now-ubiquitous YouTube video of Rep. Bob Etheridge, the initial reaction mixed equal parts surprise and curiosity.

The surprise came from the fact that Etheridge is no novice politician. He’s spent decades in the public eye, including stints as the powerful appropriations committee chairman in the North Carolina House, the elected state superintendent of public instruction, and longtime congressman from Eastern North Carolina’s 2nd District.

He has been asked tough questions on countless occasions, by aggressive news reporters as well as disgruntled citizens at public hearings and town hall meetings.

So how in the world did Bob Etheridge end up starring in the most embarrassing political video of June 2010? Did two shrimpy college kids with handheld cameras really intimidate our state’s tallest congressman?

Good question. Is there something in the water down there in the Carolinas? In addition to North Carolina’s Etheridge-berserko-moment, everyone is asking how Alvin Green ended up as the Democrat contender in the Senate race in South Carolina? Dems say it is an ugly Republican trick. But they put up a party hack with no name recognition and expected to walk away with it and go through the motions against a shoo-in Republican. Instead the primary went to Alvin, who got sixty percent of the vote. DeMint is going to win anyway, but the primary mess is embarrassing for the Dems. Not only do they lose anyway in November but until then, they have Albatross Alvin hanging ‘round their necks. Alvin doesn’t talk much but he sure is a…he sure is a presence.

But back to Etheridge and the Carolina Daily’s analysis:

That’s where the curiosity came in. Democrats and Republicans alike speculated…Would he claim that the tape had been edited to depict an assault that never really happened, or that was in response to some provocation not shown in the edited version? Would he blame Republican dirty-tricksters? Given the fact that the congressman had just left a fundraiser at which adult beverages may have been served, would he pull a Mel Gibson?

None of the above, it turned out. At a hastily organized press conference Monday afternoon, Etheridge simply expressed regret and refused to explain further. “I came today to say I’m sorry,” he said. “I had a long day. It was at the end of the day. All of us have bad days, but that’s no excuse.”

Like other public figures, members of Congress have made a choice to subject themselves to public scrutiny and questioning. That doesn’t mean politicians shouldn’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy. But when a member of Congress walks down a public sidewalk on Capitol Hill and is approached by someone with a camera asking questions about public policy, there are just two defensible ways to respond:

• Answer the question [the author has lots of examples]

• Just walk on by. [more helpful suggestions]

Instead, Etheridge has suddenly become notorious as a symbol for an out-of-touch, out-of-control Congress. Never thought that would happen, so you can color me as surprised along with everyone else.

But curious? Not any more, no. Etheridge has no interesting excuse to offer. Turns out, he’s just a jerk.

Well, of course he is. That’s another professional hazard for the political class: they end up as denizens of Jerkdom.

I love all Five Feet of Fury. She collects such neat stuff, like this video. Or like her news that Canada may get a Fox-type clone news channel and Michael Coren is going to be there. I also love Michael Coren…what can I say? – I like to think around.